Less than a month from now the Saint Louis University volleyball
team will embark on a path that will mark the beginning of one era
and, ultimately, the end of another.
The new era being rung in for Billiken volleyball is that of new
head coach Anne Kordes. Kordes comes to the Bills from the
volleyball hotbed at the University of Illinois, where she was the
program’s top assistant last year. The Illini have been a top
program nationally for a long time and held true to form last
season, advancing all the way to the sweet 16, losing to No. 2
Hawaii. Kordes takes over for Billiken mainstay and inaugural
member of the American Volleyball Coaches Association Hall of Fame,
Marilyn Nolen, who after 10 years on the sidelines for the Bills,
and 32 years total, retired at the end of last season.
Kordes brings with her an astute knowledge of the current
breakneck pace of the sport of volleyball as well as a personal
connection to Conference USA, where she played for two years at the
University of Cincinnati before transferring to play for two more
years at the University of Louisville.
She was the Great Midwest Conference’s newcomer of the year for
Bearcats her freshman year, and she helped in C-USA’s first season
as a member of the all-conference second team her sophomore year,
before deciding to transfer back home to Louisville.
After sitting out the mandatory season, she stepped in
immediately for the Cardinals and earned All-Conference stature
both her junior and senior seasons, also leading the Cardinals to
the C-USA tournament title and the Sweet 16 her senior season. From
there she went on to coach for a season as an assistant at Indiana
before crossing state lines and joining the Illini staff, where she
has been since 1999.
Her quick ascension up the ranks in the coaching world can be
attributed to her astute knowledge of the game and impressive
recruiting skills–which were highlighted by the class of talented
recruits she brought in for the upcoming season.
As has been the case for the Billikens for most of the past few
years, Kordes continued the tradition of keeping local talent at
home by signing freshmen Chrissy King of Cor Jesu and Sutton
Lasater of Marquette High School. She also added some good depth
for the squad by signing Stacy Larkin, a Belleville native who is
coming from Southwestern Illinois, and Aida Antanaviciute,
originally from Lithuania, who is joining the Billikens from
Jefferson College. It looks as if the Billikens have started to tap
into the wealth of foreign players that perennial powers like South
Florida, Louisville and Cincinnati have built programs around in
the past few seasons.
The new recruits will join the wealth of returning players from
last year’s squad.
The Billikens return their top hitter, Kayla Kmitta, who
registered 270 kills last season, as well as her twin sister
Jessica, who had a team-high 352 digs last season. Also returning
are the Billikens top blocker and setter, respectively Alexis
Cooley and Erin McClanahan.
Rounding out the squad are juniors Lauren Boissevain, who
switched from setter to outside hitter last season and has been
shown to excel at both, and Megan Sorich, who was used last season
as a defensive specialist and has a serve that has been known to
give opponents fits. Sophomores Jessica Poorbaugh and Angela Powers
were both thrust into the lineup at various points in their
freshman season and showed that they are more than capable of
handling the load.
“They are a highly motivated group. The incoming class is going
to have their work cut out for them trying to unseat any of the
returning players from the starting lineup,” said Kordes of her
returning squad.
Merchant, the lone senior from last year’s team and whose departure
creates a leadership void that will most readily be filled by this
year’s talented class of seniors, and junior Ashley Hunter, who
started some matches for the Billikens two years ago, her freshman
year, but had an injury-riddled sophomore campaign and has left the
squad.
Joining Kordes on the sideline this season will be coach Melissa
Starck. Starck was the top assistant for Jacksonville State the
past two seasons and played at Western Kentucky during her
collegiate career, where she still holds numerous career records,
including most career service aces and games played and is second
all-time in digs.
The Billikens will be looking to right a ship that fell to the
depths of the C-USA standings at points last season, but building
on the experience of last year’s team, the influx of talent from
recruits that are ready to step in to the rotation and the smarts
and excitement that the Bills’ young, yet battle-tested coaching
staff are bringing to the table this season, the first in a new era
of coaching yet the last in a conference that has served the
Billikens well, should make for a solid year.
“We are looking forward to getting started. I switched two of
the tournaments that we are playing in so that we would play some
tougher competition and I think we are just ready to see what we
can do,” Kordes said.
